This report is issued by the Administrator of the National Health Funding Pool under section 240 of the National Health Reform Act 2011.

This report is prepared on a cash basis. It shows monthly and year-to-date (YTD) National Health Reform (NHR) funding and payments at an aggregated national level for December 2013.

Local hospital networks and National Health Reform

A local hospital network (LHN) is an organisation that provides public hospital services in accordance with the Agreement. An LHN can contain one or more hospitals, and is usually defined as a business group, geographical area or community. Every Australian public hospital is part of a LHN.

Note: The term ‘local hospital network’ is a national term. Some states and territories use their own local terminology to describe these networks, such as local health districts, health organisations, and hospital and health services.

Under the Agreement, LHNs receive funding in 2013-14 for the following public hospital services:

All admitted and non-admitted services

All emergency department services provided by a recognised emergency department

Other outpatient, mental health, sub-acute services and other services that could reasonably be considered a public hospital service.

Note: LHNs also receive funding from other sources, including the Commonwealth, states and territories, and third parties for the provision of other specific functions and services outside the scope of the National Health Reform Agreement, for example dental services, primary care, home and community care, residential aged care and pharmaceuticals. For further information on total funding to a particular LHN, contact the Department of Health in the relevant state or territory to view the service agreement for that LHN.

Note: Amounts shown in the monthly reports do not include funding received by Victoria from New South Wales as contributions for Albury Wodonga Health.

Reference information

The financial information outlined in the following report is categorised as:

NHR funding – when the Commonwealth or state or territory government pays NHR funding into a state pool account or state managed fund.

NHR payments – when NHR funding that has been deposited into a state pool account or state managed fund is paid out of the state pool account by the Administrator, or is paid out of the state managed fund by the state or territory.

For the basis of state and territory NHR payments, see Basis for National Health Reform payments explanation in the relevant state or territory report for December 2013, see State or territory reports.

Differences between NHR funding and NHR payments for a state or territory can occur for several reasons, such as having funds remaining in its state pool account at the end of the month, drawing down on available funds from previous months, or having an overdraft in its state pool account at the end of the month.

NHR funding and payments shown in this table include GST where applicable.

Commonwealth and state or territory NHR funding components are detailed in the following tables.

NHR funding by funding source

Table 2a – NHR funding by funding source for each state and territory – December 2013

This table shows NHR funding by the source of funds for each state and territory for December 2013.

Sources of NHR funding are separated into Commonwealth funding, Own state or territory funding (where a state or territory provides its own funding) and Funding from other state or territory (where other states or territories contribute cross-border funding towards the cost of their residents being treated in the provider state or territory).

NHR funding by funding type

Table 3a – NHR funding by funding type for each state and territory – December 2013

This table shows NHR funding for each state and territory by funding type and source for December 2013. NHR funding can be activity-based funding (ABF), block funding or other funding, such as public health funding, cross-border, interest or overdeposits.

Sources of NHR funding are separated into Commonwealth funding, Own state or territory funding (where a state or territory provides its own funding) and Funding from other state or territory (where other states or territories contribute cross-border funding towards the cost of their residents being treated in the provider state or territory).

Table 3b – NHR funding by funding type for each state and territory YTD – December 2013

Following on from table 3a, this table shows year-to-date (YTD) NHR funding for each state and territory by funding type and source for December 2013. NHR funding can be activity-based funding (ABF), block funding or other, such as public health funding, cross-border, interest or overdeposits.

Block funding represents Non-admitted mental health, Small rural hospitals, Teaching, training and research, and Other non-admitted categories, which are funded through state managed funds and subsequently paid to local hospital networks.

Other funding represents other funding sources which are transacted through the National Health Funding Pool, such as public health funding, cross-border, interest or overdeposits, and subsequently paid to state or territory health departments (with the exception of cross-border funding which can be paid to state or territory health departments or to local hospital networks).

Estimated monthly, YTD and annual activity

States and territories provide service volume estimates at the start of each financial year, and if required, can continue to refine these estimates during the course of the year. These estimates form the basis of monthly reporting of service volumes until actual service numbers become available. These estimates are expressed as National Weighted Activity Units (NWAU).

States and territories provide estimated annual NWAU to the Administrator as a basis for determining the Commonwealth activity-based funding. Current month NWAU estimates accumulate through the year-to-date NWAU to be equal to the annual NWAU at the end of the financial year.

States and territories may also provide activity information relating to the delivery of other public hospital functions funded.

Table 4 – Estimated monthly, YTD and annual NWAU by each state and territory – December 2013

This table shows estimated hospital activity for each state and territory for activity-based funding services expressed as NWAU for the current month, year-to-date (YTD) and total estimated annual NWAU.

An NWAU is a measure of health service activity expressed as a common unit. It provides a way of comparing and valuing each public hospital service, whether they are admissions, emergency department presentations or outpatient episodes, weighted for clinical complexity. The average hospital service is worth one NWAU - the most intensive and expensive activities are worth multiple NWAU, the simplest and least expensive are worth fractions of an NWAU.

Monthly NHR payments relate to the cash needs of public hospitals and do not necessarily reflect the volume of services delivered in the month.